Act 1, Part 2 Summary

As Chris and Joe make small talk about the paper, the tree, and Ann, Bert the neighbor boy comes in. He and Joe play their familiar game of police chief (Joe) and patrol cop (Bert), with Bert reporting on various goings on in the neighborhood and Joe telling him to keep his eyes and ears open for trouble. After Bert goes, Joe worries about what Kate will say when she sees the destroyed tree. Chris tells him she already knows, explaining that she was out in the yard at four in the morning when it fell. Joe realizes she must have been dreaming about Larry again, and he and Chris discuss whether they should have let her continue to believe Larry isn't dead. Joe says Kate thinks what she does because of the newspapers, saying that every day there's an article about a lost soldier...